


Night of the Funeral

by Apex3386



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, Valiant Hero Ending | VH (Henry Stickmin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26799760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apex3386/pseuds/Apex3386
Summary: After the sacrifice Charles made to save Henry's life at the Orbital Station, and it's absolute destruction, Henry returns with painful news of Charles' death to Galeforce. Henry's been hiding in his house, until he's informed of the funeral of his former lover.
Relationships: Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	Night of the Funeral

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! Here I am, back with a new tale to tell. I figured I'd give Henry x Charles a shot, although it won't be too relevant because... you know. Valiant Hero...
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy. Just saying, though. If I ever do have a shipping in my work, it'll usually be Henry x Ellie. I know a lot of people like Henry x Charles, but I have my own preferences, and I'll generally be sticking to them.

Henry was in the escape pod. He felt scared for Charles, the man he loved. Alone, sacrificing his life so Henry could live.

"Henry? You there?" Charles asked. Henry scrambled and grabbed the destroyed earpiece. He heard Charles groan in pain.

"Man, that roughed me up." Charles sat against the wall, covering his wounds with his arms, trying to cut the blood from flowing out. "Got 'em though." The pilot looked around. "Gotta be another escape pod around here somewhere?" Henry covered his face, trying not to let the tears drip down. He heard his lover chuckle slightly.

"We did it though, we got 'em. Pretty good plan! You could say it was the greates~"

Then the explosion. The cutting of Charles voice. The indescribable pain Henry felt surging through him. He pounded the glass window violently, before losing all strength or will to fight against the man's death, tears pouring from his eyes. He felt crushed. The escape pod soon entered Earth's orbit, and when he made it to the ground, he left the pod. He knew exactly where he had to go.

* * *

After hours of walking, with his legs incredibly sore, he soon made it to the hideout Galeforce had set up nearby the Dogobogo Jungle to raid the Launch Site before the rocket launched. He walked into Galeforce's tent later, and informed the general of the grave news.

"General! The Toppat station's... been destroyed..." One of the privates told him before trailing off. Henry leaned against the wall, holding back a face worth of tears.

"Excellent news!" Hubert happily exclaimed, before looking at Henry's face. "...What's wrong?"

"Charles and I were in the same escape pod. We were ready to go home, and a Toppat member grabbed me and pulled me out of the escape pod." Henry explained. "Charles threw me back in and pushed the Toppat onto the ground. He got up and pinned Charles down. He pressed the button to close the escape pod, and pinned down the Toppat. He told me not to worry about him, he told me he'd find another way put, but we both knew he couldn't escape. We both knew he was going to die." By this point he was barely choking out the words, and 'die' sounded nearly silent.

Galeforce had no words. He trained that boy as soon as he was eighteen. Even before he could legally fly that helicopter, he did it better than almost everyone. Four years later, the man he grew to consider his own son... sacrificing his own life to save his best friend.

"I... I see.

* * *

Henry walked back to his house. He wished he had been able to prevent the death of Charles. It pained him knowing his best and only friend, and who he had hoped to have been married to one day was gone. He grabbed some bread and slotted it into his toaster. He sent to lay down on his couch. He waited a few minutes, and the toast popped out of the toaster. Henry grabbed it and spread some butter on it. He received a call from General Galeforce, and figured he'd answer.

"Hey, general. How's it going?" Henry asked.

"It's been tough. Charlie was like a son to me, but I imagine it's been tougher for you. Him being so close to you. He may not have been our family, but he sure felt like it." Hubert replied. "The funeral. It's next week, on Sunday."

"I'll be there. That man died a hero. He could have stayed in that pod and left me behind, and I wouldn't have blamed him. Instead, he chose to sacrifice his life to save me. I'll be damn sure to make my life count. I'm not disrespecting his dying actions."

"You know. You can come back whenever you want, Henry. But if you need more time, feel free to take it." The general offered.

"I don't know. I just need time to myself. I'll be at the funeral." Henry told him. "I might end the call. Talking about him more makes me feel uncomfortable."

"My bad. I'll end the call here. I hope you soon recover from this event, Henry. Have a good day." Galeforce said. Henry's phone clicked, and he put it on the table. He looked at the picture frame of him in Charles' helicopter. It said "Government Supported Private Investigator" in bold text. Henry slightly laughed and cried at the same time.

'Charles always called me that.' Henry thought. 'I loved him. I'd do... anything, really, to have him back.' Henry turned on his TV in hopes to find something to get everything off his mind. BCC news had the destruction of the Orbital Station going viral. Henry turned off the TV.

'Not what I needed.' He sighed. He eventually figured it would be better to just go outside and maybe go get a drink. He put his jacket on and left his house. He walked over to the bar, hoping he could maybe even drink his pain away, before remembering what alcohol actually did to him.

The last time he ever drank, he threw up violently. Maybe going to a bar wasn't such a great idea. Henry decided he'd at least walk around town, see some old sights, relieve some stress. He eventually made it to the National Museum of History and Culture, and started to laugh, remembering the great memories he had there, busting in on his motorized scooter. Henry continued to walk through the town until he eventually ended up back home at night. He unlocked the door

* * *

It was Saturday evening, Henry was ready to attend Charles' funeral. He grabbed the boutique of flowers he purchased that afternoon. Henry put on his formal boots, and walked out of his house to go to the cliff where General Galeforce said his grave would be. The sun shone on the back of the grave, leaving the water behind it to be streaked a gold-orange color. Hubert put a spare headset of Charles' on his grave. The headset gently clamped against it as the general shed a tear. Henry was luckily on time. A few minutes later, the general finally began his speech.

"It came out of nowhere. None of us thought Charles would die. He and Henry simply went to the Orbital Station to take down the Toppats. We never expected him to get caught in the explosion. He saved us. He saved our world and all we ever held dear. He even could have survived and come back down home, but he instead chose to sacrifice his own life to save another. He died doing what he loved. While the man I once considered a son is gone, he will always be remembered by us." Hubert said. "Though he always acted somewhat childish, it was always what made him so enjoyable to be around. He was always optimistic, had a great sense of humor and never failed to make the people he was around happy." His eyes started to water more. "I think I've said enough for now."

Henry walked near the grave, put the flowers on the ground in front of it, and spoke.

"Charles Calvin was a man I grew to love. Him and I worked together well when I broke into the Toppat Clan Airship, and he never treated me like I was a criminal. As you may or may not know. I was eventually taken to the Wall, where I would be imprisoned for the rest of my life. But I escaped. Sure, I ended up having to fake my own death while doing it. But I did." Henry sighed. "A few weeks later, Charles was in Canada for some reason, we saw each other again, and his smile that day is one that I'm never going to forget, I'll never forget what he said, either. We ended up deciding it'd be a good idea to strike at the Orbital Station and take the Toppats out for good. Charles did the one thing he always wanted to do."

Galeforce let out a smile. At least Charles was able to crash something once in his life. Henry looked at the man's smile, and slightly chuckled.

"Yeah, you know what I mean. He totally crashed that spaceship. He was always a great person, I loved him so much. He's beyond a great man. He's a hero. It's a shame he had to die at such a young age. He was only twenty-two before the explosion. He had such a successful life ahead of him, and I can't help but wonder. What made him think I deserved it more? I've done so many wrong things in my life, but here he was. Always doing a great job. Nobody who knows Charles Calvin was able to call him a bad person. He's made everyone he's ever talked to happy."

"His name will go down in history. Centuries from now, people will remember Charles Calvin as the man who laid down his life to destroy the Orbital Station." Hubert said. "If his actions today are ever forgotten, it would dishonor the name of the military." Hubert added.

The evening went on, and eventually, the funeral ended. Almost everybody had left, but Henry was sitting by the grave. Galeforce sat down beside him, and put his hand on Henry's shoulder.

"I understand your pains, Henry. I loved the man, too. Not the same way as you did or maybe even as much. But Charles was like the son I never had. Not a single day went by where I didn't see him, piloting that helicopter like most pilots would dream to. I never even taught him how to use that prototype and he nailed that too." Galeforce remarked.

"You know. I just thought of something, you know how the truck I was in fell into the frigid lake below me? What if this is what I get for making Charles think I had died. If this is a joke, reality has a sickening sense of humor." Henry replied with a sigh.

"You know, Henry. If you ever need to talk to anyone, I'll be here." Hubert offered.

"Thank you, general. I'll probably be spending a lot of time to myself the next few days, though."

"No worries. I hope you manage to cope with this well, and that you'll eventually be okay." The general got up and left the grave. The funeral had ended a while back, but Henry still hadn't left Charles grave. The sun had fully set and by this point. Henry was alone with his thoughts as the cold night's wind slowly breezed by him. He stood up looked at the grave once more.

'Rest in Peace. Charles Calvin: 1989-2011'

He stared at the grave. He was a great man, a wonderful lover of Henry's, and most of all. Charles Calvin was a valiant hero.


End file.
